Field of the Disclosure
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to headlamps, and more specifically relate to pixilated projection for headlamps.
Description of the Related Art
Various forms of glare free headlamps are currently implemented by several automotive manufacturers. In general, a glare free headlamp has a glare free high beam that is controlled by a camera-driven system to selectively shade areas out of the high beam pattern to protect other road users from glare, while providing the driver with maximum viewing range. The area surrounding other road users is constantly illuminated at high beam brightness, but without the glare that would result from using uncontrolled high beams in traffic.
While there are several approaches to achieving a glare free high beam in a headlamp, a current trend in automotive headlamps is to have pixel-level digital control over the high beam. Automotive manufacturers are already making vehicles with headlamps having versions of pixel-level control using light emitting diode (LED) matrix technology. However, the maximum resolution available in any of these LED matrix solutions is less than one hundred segments. Limited resolution can cause stark changes to the light output as a masked object moves across the headlight field of view. In addition, as one LED is turned off and another turned on, the change may be noticeable and even distracting to the driver of the equipped vehicle as well as to oncoming drivers. Accordingly, some industry and research attention is focusing on the possibility of pixilated projector based headlamps that offer much higher pixel resolution.